Ahaheim: The Los Angeles Angels were the epitome of mediocrity as they took the field on Monday night, their overall record standing at 50-50, their home and road records an identical 25-25 and their mark in the previous 18 games an even 9-9.
Average would have been an upgrade for them in a 5-3 loss to the lowly Chicago White Sox. The Angels followed Sunday’s 14-run, 15-hit thrashing of the defending World Series-champions Houston Astros with a seven-hit effort against a team with the third-worst record (35-64) in baseball.
David Fletcher and Kole Calhoun doubled in a two-run third inning, and Fletcher had three hits. Mike Trout walked four times and hit a sacrifice fly in the third, and Shohei Ohtani crushed a 435-foot homer to dead centre in the fourth.
That was the extent of the highlights for the Angels, who went one for 10 with runners in scoring position in a 3-hour, 46-minute game that featured seven mid-inning pitching changes, 11 walks and 18 strikeouts.
White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito, the former local high school standout who was a first-round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2012, earned the win in his first Southern California appearance as a big-leaguer, allowing three runs and five hits in six innings, striking out five and walking four.
A 3-2 Angels lead evaporated in the sixth inning when Chicago rallied for three runs on two singles, one that left the infield, three walks and a hit batsman.
